Tech At Clemson For Thursday Night Tilt

Nov. 11, 2013

Tech At Clemson For Thursday Night Tilt
• Winners of three straight and bowl eligible for the 17th consecutive year, Georgia Tech looks to keep its momentum rolling at Clemson on Thursday night in its ACC regular-season finale.
• The game can be seen on ESPN with Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack and Samantha Ponder.
• On the radio, “Voice of the Yellow Jackets” Brandon Gaudin has the call on the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network along with analyst Rick Strom and sideline reporter Randy Waters. The game can be heard on WYAY 106.7 FM in Atlanta and on the web at RamblinWreck.com.

Quick Hitters
• Fresh off its bye week, Georgia Tech heads to Clemson needing a win to clinch at least of the share of the ACC Coastal Division title for the fourth time in six seasons under Paul Johnson.
• With its 21-10 Homecoming win over Pitt, Georgia Tech moved to 5-2 in the ACC and had already clinched its 19th consecutive .500 or better finish in conference play, to extend the nation’s longest such streak.
• The Pitt win was also Tech’s 700th as a program, moving the Jackets to 700-471-43 in 121 seasons.
• Georgia Tech, Ohio State and Wisconsin are the only teams in the nation to rank in the top 10 nationally in both rushing offense and rushing defense. The Jackets rank fifth in rushing offense, 10th in rushing defense.
• Tech and Clemson are meeting for the 79th time and the Jackets lead the series 50-26-2. Clemson is Tech’s fourth most-common opponent, behind Georgia (107 games), Auburn (92) and Duke (81).
• Tech held Pitt to -5 yards rushing – the best rushing defense effort by the Jackets in the Paul Johnson era. It was only the eighth time over the last 60 years that Tech has held an opponent to negative yards rushing.
• Paul Johnson is 31-16 (.659) in ACC games – the ninth-highest percentage in league games in ACC history.
• Tech ranks fourth nationally in third-down pct. (.540), while Clemson is fourth in third-down defense (.286).
• Clemson is averaging 39.8 points per game, which ranks 15th nationally in scoring. Georgia Tech ranks t-14th in scoring defense, allowing 18.8 points per contest.
• Clemson ranks 11th nationally in total offense, while Tech ranks 12th in total defense.
• Georgia Tech is rushing for an average of 311.2 yards per game – the identical number it averaged in 2012.
• The Jackets rank second nationally in yards per pass completion (18.24) behind only Baylor.
• Tech ranks third nationally in time of possession and has won the TOP battle seven times this season.
• Since 2005, Georgia Tech and Clemson have identical cumulative records of 47-24 in ACC play. Only Virginia Tech has won more conference games over that span.
• Senior Jemea Thomas has logged 21 tackles, three pass breakups and a interception over the last two games and is the two-time defending ACC Defensive Back of the Week.
• Senior DE Jeremiah Attaochu is six sacks shy of tying Tech’s career record, and his 25.0 career sacks rank third among active FBS players.
• Averaging 11.3 yards per rush, senior A-back Robert Godhigh leads the ACC in that category. Of Godhigh’s 708 yards from scrimmage this season, 45.2 percent have come after contact (320).
• The Yellow Jackets have rushed for more yards than any FBS team since 2008, and in 2012, Tech surpassed the 20,000-yard rushing mark for the five-year period under head coach Paul Johnson.
• Georgia Tech is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Historic Grant Field in 2013. It is the most tenured stadium in the FBS and listed by ESPN.com as a bucket-list item for college fans.

The Clemson Series
• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 50-26-2.
• The Yellow Jackets will play at Clemson for a second straight year, which also happened in 1993-94.
• Clemson has won two of the last three meetings, but Georgia Tech has won five of the last seven.
• Clemson holds an 11-6 series advantage at Death Valley, including a 47-31 Tiger victory last season. Tech has won two of the last three meetings at Memorial Stadium, but the two teams have split the last eight meetings at Clemson.
• This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams over the last five years. The Jackets and Tigers met twice in 2009, including the ACC championship game. • Georgia Tech is 19-9 (7-4 on the road) against Atlantic Division opponents since the ACC split into divisions in 2005.
• Tech has played only Georgia (107 meetings), Auburn (92) and Duke (81) more often than Clemson. The Yellow Jackets own more wins over Clemson (50) than any other team.
• Tech and Clemson have met at least once each season since 1983.
• The two teams first met on the gridiron in 1898 — a 23-0 Clemson victory in a game played in Augusta, Ga.
• From 1905-14 the Yellow Jackets and Tigers met every year on Thanksgiving Day.
• Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is 4-2 all-time against Clemson, but that includes the `09 championship game, which was vacated and does not count in Johnson’s career record.
• Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s first game as the Tigers’ head coach was a 21-17 loss to Tech in 2008.
• Tech is 88-36-2 all-time against teams from the Palmetto State.

Up Next
• The Jackets are out of ACC action for the final two games of the regular season, beginning with Alabama A&M on Nov. 23 at Bobby Dodd Stadium (time and network TBA) and concluding the slate versus Georgia in Atlanta on Nov. 30.